Life and Wildlife on the Banks of the Murrumbidgee
Once upon a time, a scientist was interested in the physiology and adaptability of Australian snowgums. The official name of snowgums is eucalyptus pauciflora because they have only a few flowers (not because their flowers are crummy). In the mountains they're known for their twisted shapes and striped trunks. They're the highest... Continue Reading →
A cattle ramp is the first thing you see when you enter most farms. They're easy to drive over, when they're not buckled and bent by huge trucks, but they're not always great at keeping sheep and cattle from crossing. The old entry ramp at Esdale was particularly bad. It was strong. No truck could... Continue Reading →
A late addition to the collection of trees we've been planting this year has been a group of trees that have just graduated from the Australian National University. They're now decorating the slopes of our box-gum woodland plantation with tasteful stainless steel pendants and copper necklaces identifying them. The concept of the research (by Tricia... Continue Reading →
Months ago, we arranged for some work to be done on the access tracks on both sides of the river. I hoped to have them done in time for tree-planting and fencing, to save us all bumping and slithering over quite so many boulders, and allowing Andrew and Frank to round up their stock in... Continue Reading →
We are now keeping a tropical bathroom for our new chicks. It's a good thing Mum's not here as I don't think she'd appreciate having to share with little squeaking creatures however cute they are. Most of the chickens available at this time of the winter are the crossbred Isa Browns which lay constantly... Continue Reading →
We went out yesterday hoping that it was the perfect day for a small bushfire. We've had a dry couple of weeks, and rain was predicted for the evening. Lovely. I wanted to set fire to some grass in a small enclosure on a windy ridge that Mum had made about ten years ago. It... Continue Reading →
In some places people find entertainment in running up to a sleeping cow and tipping her over. Round here, instead, we like to tip our tanks over. Especially the empty ones that are leaking and need mending.We use tanks for house water, garden water and stock water, filling them from the creek, or the river,... Continue Reading →
We've been planting grass this weekend. It seems a strange thing to do in a season that's been plentiful with the green stuff. That may have been why I got eight trays of mixed native grasses going cheap. On the other hand, I know that the top of the ridge in our Box-Gum woodland... Continue Reading →
One aspect of living outside a town is that you have to drive to get anywhere else. From being a one-car family with a lovely efficient Toyota Prius and several bicycles, we now have three cars, one of them a utility truck with a useful tray that we use on a daily basis. The... Continue Reading →
I'm unreasonably excited that we've been able to make use of an old gate that has been sitting down near the woolshed for nearly fifty years. When Mum bought the farm Adnamira in January 1967, there were strange items lying all over the place. The previous owner was a bit of a jackdaw who loved... Continue Reading →
Have you seen this bird? It turns out that nobody knows much about Gang-Gangs, even though they're an iconic bird for this region. It's not really clear what they feed on, or where they nest, if their numbers are declining or if they've moved out of town. Most of the recent sightings have been in introduced... Continue Reading →
I've discovered the secret life of worms. After the wind and rain last week, I noticed lots of leaves lying around on the concrete outside my bedroom door. Except that Calypso the puppy seemed unusually interested in eating them. She eats anything her mouth can reach, but not usually leaves. Then I realized that the... Continue Reading →
Ten brave souls came out to make merry in the winter solstice weather. They scattered across the landscape like sheep (which are happily excluded by the new fence). That's because the plantings are widely spaced to mimic the type of rich grassy woodland we are trying to regenerate. In weather not as bleak as... Continue Reading →
So it turns out mud and wind are also no obstacle for Europeans coming to plant at Esdale. We had to cancel this weekend's mass tree planting for a new Box Gum Woodland, for which we've had a grant from Local Land Services. We'd hoped to have 20 people and plant 400 trees. Instead... Continue Reading →
When the wind gets above 45km/h every gap and crack in this old house begins to whistle. The walls are two feet thick, made of rammed earth, but many of the windows are single-glazed and rattle...a lot. Even the ones that are double-glazed seem to have gaps for cold drafts. The oil-burning central heating we... Continue Reading →
Not so long ago I woke up to the sound of the dogs barking frantically at an echidna. They seem to take something about the way a spiny anteater moves as an affront to reality. The little heaves among the sharp spines it makes as each leg moves forward are an insult, as is the... Continue Reading →
This map comes from an aerial photo my Dad had taken in 1980 and then carefully stencilled the outlines of the paddocks onto glass. It's been framed and hanging on the wall for years. It's great to have that picture to compare with current images, including another aerial photo I ordered from the state government... Continue Reading →
There are lots of issues clamoring for attention in our world - war, hunger, climate change, disaster, death and despair. I find reading the newspaper a dangerous activity likely to explode a blood pressure cuff across the room. Fifteen years ago, I got the opportunity to move back to the family farm and work on... Continue Reading →
One Bend In The River 